Kavaad, Travelling Shrine, Home

Gulammohammed Sheikh, is an eminent artist, teacher and writer. Born in 1937 in Surendranagar (Gujarat), he was educated in Baroda and London.  He taught art history at the Faculty of Fine Arts, MS University of Baroda, in 1960-63 and 1967-81; and was Professor of Painting there from 1982 to 1993.  He has also lectured widely on Indian art in India, Europe and the USA; held a Residency at Civitella Ranieri Center, Umbertide, Italy in 1998; and been Visiting Artist, Art Institute of Chicago in 1987, 2002, and Writer/Artist in Residence, South Asia Regional Studies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia in 2000.  As an artist Sheikh has had ten solo shows, including one at Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, in 1985.  Among the numerous group shows at which his works have been exhibited are the National exhibition at New Delhi, 1962; Group 1890, New Delhi, 1963; the Paris 1963 and Tokyo 1967 Biennales; Triennale (India) 1975; Place for People, Bombay, New Delhi, 1981; Timeless Art, Bombay 1989.  he has curated the following exhibitions: New Contemporaries (Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay, 1978); Retrospective exhibition: k g Subramanyan (Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, 1981); Birth and Life of Modernity (selections from French museums, co-curator with Geeta Kapur and Anis Farooqi, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, 1989); New Art from India: Home, Street, Shrine, Bazaar, Museum (City Art Gallery, Manchester, 2002).  He is the editor of the volume Contemporary Art in Baroda (1996), and has contributed numerous articles to books and journals, including Marg and Journal of Arts & Ideas.  Among the several honours Sheikh has received are the National Award in 1962, the Padmashri in 1983 and the Kalidas Samman in 2002.